心拍数0822
by Two-Faced Procrastinator
Summary: When Reborn is given the job to tutor Vongola Decimo's younger sibling, he expects her to be exactly like him, a whining no-good complainer. But before he knew it, she was making his stone heart beat at the rate of one hundred ten. *R27 & other pairings.*
1. 110 BMP Stone Fortress

oh, geez.

i'm such a horrible author.

i should be really updating my other stories, seriously.

i'm sorry, guys.

after i get this out of my head, i'll work on the others.

thank you for those that are waiting for them!

i hope i'll stick to updating them later.

-.-

lots of love, Two-Faced Procrastinator.

[inspired by the vocaloid song composed by 蝶々P and sung by VOCALOID2 01 Hatsune Miku Append DARK.]

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**【心拍数#0822】**

_My heart_

_in one minute_

_seventy times_

_it shouts_

**_"I live."_**

_But when I'm with you_

_it runs fast_

_and one hundred ten times_

_it shouts_

**_"I love."_**

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Just because she was a girl didn't mean that she was let off of the spartan training Reborn made her go through.

As Vongola Decimo's _younger sibling_, she was told that being a frail little girl would be his downfall. The least she could do for him was not waste his time in protecting her from other mafia families that try to use her against him.

That being said, Giotto's former tutor was passed onto her, and thus began her torturous regime into becoming stronger than her presently pathetic state.

Reborn was quite intimidating. He screamed danger, and the air around him demanded respect. Everything about him said "dark" - his pristine black suit, his spiky black hair, his piercing black eyes, his frightening black aura.

But upon seeing his heart, her fear of him dissipated immediately.

It was a sort of..._talent_ of hers, to see what others' hearts were like. What it seemed to be made of, the degree of pain it was in, who it represented. She could know someone inside out by reading their hearts. The heart held a person's deepest, most horrible secrets, and she could know them all, if she wanted. Nothing could stop her.

But doing that without their permission was like a terrible crime. All she did was read. If there was a door that said _'keep out'_, then she would. And she didn't want to learn such private matters anyway. Carrying someone's problems was heavy, suffocatingly so.

Her hitman tutor may be the greatest and strongest in the world, but inside, he was the same as everyone else that was human. He got hurt, he cried, he laughed, and he loved. _Just like every other person._

Reborn's heart was as hard as stone. Hard and nearly unbreakable. Nothing got in, and nothing got out. The ultimate fortress to guard the unbelievably tender core that held so many memories of hurt and immeasurable tears. She didn't know how bad those experiences were, but she wasn't going to pry. She wasn't about to go against her self-promise any time soon.

It was that part of him that was able to _feel_, to be _human_, that made him so much less scary to her.

She was finally reaching her one-hundredth lap around the entire town of Namimori. She was sweating buckets, her throat hurt from dehydration, her breaths were shallow and raspy. Her whole body shook with overexertion. Her legs felt like molten lead, every step sent sharp spikes of pain up her thighs and calves. Her ankles ached from the weights attached to them, and the swollen soles of her feet probably had blisters.

It hurt everywhere, but the thought of all the pain inside Reborn's heart made her feel ashamed of herself and propelled her forward, shutting out her body's cries. What she was going through right now was _nothing_ compared to his past experiences.

Despite her soreness, she felt proud of herself for actually finishing one hundred circles around Namimori. She hadn't really believed that she could do it, and after just five laps she was expecting her body to just drop. But ninety-five of them later, she was still going. It made her smile, although it was shaky because even her facial muscles were exhausted.

But, _oh_, was it worth it. The sight of the disbelief and shock on Reborn's face was worth it. For once, she had done something beyond the expectations of both herself and someone around her. She found herself waving despite her body's weeping protests.

She stopped in front of the Sawada house, heaving with all her lungs' capacity. Rivets of perspiration streamed down her skin, soaking her clothes and making her vision slightly blurry. Her body was numb now, she couldn't feel anything, but it didn't matter at the moment. She was so darned proud of herself that it overwhelmed everything else she was feeling.

She couldn't focus right, her head was spinning and buzzing, but her tutor's words were sharp enough to be heard.

"You... you didn't really do one hundred laps... did you?"

His tone was doubtful. She looked at the world's greatest hitman with far-off eyes, and held out a trembling hand. He reached out to check her pulse, and she weakly grasped his wrist. Slowly, clumsily, she guided his hand to where her heart was. It was pounding away, and she couldn't remember when it had beat this fast.

Her fingers fell between his, and she felt the roughness of his skin. Being this close, she could smell gunpowder and cologne. It was a strangely comforting, and she inhaled much of it. She felt the drumming of her red organ through his hand, it was that intense.

Reborn didn't say anything. He just stared at the fourteen-year-old girl in front of him, for once in his life utterly speechless. He could feel her heart working furiously underneath his hand, its palpitation resounding all throughout his body. They reached his own heart, and blended until they were beating as one together.

And then she smiled.

It was full of pride, satisfaction, and... happiness?

Reborn swallowed, and blinked rapidly to clear away the daze in his dark eyes. His mind was whirring at high speeds. Why was she smiling? Wasn't she dead tired? Why wasn't there any bitter blame towards him? Why had she taken his order seriously? Why hadn't she quit at the first few laps? Why wasn't she complaining?

He couldn't recall when he had so many questions. The hitman scrutinized the brunette that could hardly think straight anymore from the exhaustion.

Her previously softly spiked mocha-brown hair was now plastered to her forehead, and it looked deflated. She was sweating so much that he was alarmed at how low the moisture content her body must be. Her sneakers were beginning to fray at the seams.

The weights he had tossed to her earlier in the day were rubbing her ankles a painful-looking red, and he was shocked that she actually wore them. They were each ten pounds, he hadn't really expected her to run with them the entire time. It didn't take a genius to know that the ligaments in her ankle were strained harshly during the grueling task.

From what his former student had told him, Sawada Tsunayoshi was a quiet, invisible girl that didn't speak unless spoken to. She was a wallflower, and didn't try to do anything that was beyond her capabilities. _She's a nice kid, but she gives up too easily,_ was what Giotto had told the hitman last.

Looking back at their conversation, the blond's description of his sister didn't match with the proud, smiling girl in front of him, holding his hand to her heart.

"This..." Her voice was quiet, barely audible. He leaned closer to listen better. "This... _hurt_, that I... feel... is nothing... to what you've... went through..." She took a breather, not seeing how his eyes had widened, and continued. "So... while I was running... I said... to myself, that... I'll... I'll..."

He didn't get to hear the rest, as right at that spot, she collapsed.

Only Reborn's honed reflexes and quick movements saved her from hitting the ground and giving her more pain. As he lifted her limp body in his arms, unconsciously cradling her closer to him, he didn't hear the gates of his stone heart creak open to grant entrance to another heart.

The smile didn't fade away even as she was let down from his clutches, the slow beats of his heart echoing inside her and synchronizing with her own.

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**A/N:**

okay, so, um, yeah.

kinda awkward, b/c i'm so used to making Reborn a parent figure than a romantic one.

but, um, i'm going to try.

(maybe a hundred laps was overkill, but i've seen it happen. so it's not stretching it that much.)

i'll see you guys next time. :D

lots of love, Two-Faced Procrastinator.

**_Please point any grammar and punctuation mistakes, if there are any. Thank you. :')_**


	2. 110 BMP Setting Sun

a romantic Reborn with a female Tsuna is unreasonably hard for me especially, because I am so stupidly used to having them as parental figures.

shit.

anyway.

those ten-set periods that I put before and after the actual story.

I need to hear you guys' opinions.

are they necessary, or do they need to skedaddle?

seriously, I need to know.

and a poll is not worth it.

on another note;

there IS a poll active.

it's new, so could you please be a lovable bear and vote?

pretty please?

thank you. :')

[inspired by the vocaloid song composed by 蝶々P and sung by VOCALOID2 01 Hatsune Miku Append DARK.]

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**【心拍数#0822】**

_My heart–_

_when it stops_

_I'm sure that this world–_

_I think I'll have fully enjoyed it._

_As for what I'll leave behind_

_______–_pretty much nothing_____–__  
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_at your side____–_

_I think I just want to keep smiling._

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For what must be the millionth time, Reborn says:

"You should gather your Guardians."

(Because for the past week he has not seen the fourteen-year-old with any friends, and quite truthfully, he's worried.)

And for what must be the billionth time, Tsuna says:

"No, thank you."

(Because she already has him for a legal guardian, and she doesn't quite know why he's telling her this so many times.)

The world's greatest hitman gives his student a glare, although it's not as strong as he wants it to be and turns out half-hearted, because Tsuna isn't someone you could stay angry at.

Probably because she does nothing wrong.

Most of the time.

Tsuna stares blankly at the gun pointed at her, and blinks just once, owlishly.

"Why is your gun green?"

She isn't bothered by the threat right in front of her face, because she has seen her fair share of firearms during the times Iemitsu had visited.

Her father tends to get carelessly drunk at all the (almost once-in-a-lifetime rare) times he decides to come back home, and she uses that to her advantage to go through his things (because in all honesty he's a terrible father no matter what good he's doing for the family and she believes that he deserves at least an invasion of his privacy).

Once, she had even found a sniper rifle.

(She took the scope off of that, mainly because she thought it looked cool and minimally because she had always wanted a telescope. But since they were so expensive she couldn't buy it.)

It returned to its proper place, scope-less and looking like it was never touched.

(But with all that fancy techno-stuff her father has, she's pretty sure that he'll figure it out anyway, if the missing mini-telescope wasn't a dead giveaway.)

However strange it sounds, it bothers Reborn that Tsuna is so collected and not reacting like a normal teenager her age would—panicked and scared.

He cocks the gun back, hoping that the loud clicking sound would make her at least a little panicked. But her face remains impassive, so he narrows his dark eyes and waves the green pistol in her face.

"It's a gun," he replies, pointing out the obvious, because he's starting to think that his ridiculously cute student is a bit air-headed, and he knows all too well that it isn't very good for a mafioso-to-be (although it makes her cuter and he doesn't really mind _that_).

Tsuna frowns ever so slightly, and for a moment he hopes (a little) that she would say something with emotion. But alas, all she says is:

"And it's green."

The handsome mafioso furrows his eyebrows, and he lowers his pistol so that the barrel points to the floor instead of his student's face. He opens his mouth to say something, pauses, and then shuts it.

He does this several times, because he doesn't seem to be able to ask her the right question. Finally, he just moves away from Tsuna's study desk, and sits himself on the middle of her bed. He toys with his gun, fiddling with the trigger and tracing the numerous indention lines in an absentminded manner.

The brunette blinks, looks up slightly at empty air, blinks again, tilts her head down, and then turns her face back to her homework (which she had been working on quietly until her tutor decided to pop a gun on her temple).

After a couple minutes of light scratching sounds from her pencil, she is finished and Reborn is still in thought.

Tsuna had heard a bit about the hitman from her slightly air-headed but charming and gentle older brother. She was told that Reborn was a ruthless, vicious, and merciless demon from hell. _You can never tell what he was thinking,_ the blue-eyed blond had said.

But, really.

To her, Reborn was an open book. He was so easy to read, it took her not even thirty seconds to know what he was pondering about. Tsuna wasn't quite so sure about him being a demon from hell, since the dark hitman hadn't really ordered her to do anything particularly difficult.

Maybe Ieyasu was more of an airhead than she thought?

_..._

_Well..._

It _was_ plausible, knowing him. And she _did_ have over ten years of experience living with him, being his little sister and all.

Tsuna sighed silently through her nose and looked over at her quiet tutor. He was still thinking, and it doesn't seem like he was going to snap out of it so quickly.

So Tsuna did what she liked.

That was to run, and run she did.

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33

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Tsuna's love for running had bloomed ever since that one incident with the hundred-lap town-circling thing Reborn had ordered her to do about two or three weeks ago.

(Or was it a month? Time flew by so quickly with a hitman tutor in her life now.)

Sure, it made her entire body sore as hell afterwards, and she ended up staying bedridden for who-knows-how-long. But as she was resting, she had recalled the feeling of the wind on her face, and the very vague sense of flying all throughout her body.

And now, even with the _'special'_ heavy shoes and ankle weights Reborn had given her, she felt as if she were in flight. None of her steps took any longer than half a second on the ground before lifting off again. Her breathing was stable and constant, her hair trailing behind her as fast as her shadow.

Yup. Tsuna totally loved running.

In fact, she was so immersed in it that she didn't realize that someone was running up to her, yelling on top of his lungs. It wasn't until he was just a few feet behind her that she heard him.

"HEEEEEY, _EXTREMELY_ FAST GIRLLLLL! WAIT UUUUUP!"

Tsuna blinked, holding a hand up to her left ear as the deafening volume of the boy's bellowing reached her. She turned her head, wondering who it was and admiring at how powerful his lungs must be.

(Later on, she would realize that it wasn't just admiration she felt. Tsuna didn't like it, but she had been a little jealous too. A large lung capacity meant greater oxygen intake and a lower chance of muscle cramping, which equaled to more time running and less time wasted on catching your breath. To Tsuna, that was all that mattered.)

However, seeing the white-haired boy almost catch up to her pace did nothing but light the competitive fire inside her. She took his effort as a challenge, and increased her speed.

"AH! WHY DID YOU _EXTREMELY_ GET FASTER? IS IT _EXTREME_ OPPOSITE DAY?"

Tsuna furrowed her eyebrows slightly, and then cracked into a grin. This guy sure was funny.

"WOW, YOU HAVE _EXTREMELY_ STRONG LEGS, DON'T YOU? JOIN THE _EXTREME_ BOXING CLUB!"

_Wait, what?_

She gave him a funny look as he caught up with her. The gray-eyed teen grinned broadly at her, and pumped his bandaged fists in the air. "I'M THE _EXTREME_ CAPTAIN, SASAGAWA RYOHEI! _EXTREMELY_ NICE TO MEET YOU, _EXTREME_ NEW MEMBER!"

Tsuna blinked, and then furrowed her eyebrows. "I'm not joining," she said, loud enough to be heard over the whistling wind. She was starting to the feel the ache travel upwards from the soles of her feet and ankles. But her protest went ignored to the white-haired teenager, as was her body's to her.

Ryohei's slate gray eyes were bright. "FINE, THEN! IF I _EXTREMELY_ BEAT YOU IN _EXTREME_ RUNNING, THEN YOU _EXTREMELY_ HAVE TO!"

Tsuna narrowed her eyes at the challenge, and decreased her rate of pace. The white-haired teen toned his down as well, and they slowed to a complete stop.

The brunette took deep breaths, refreshing herself with much appreciated air. Then she looked at him straight in eye, fiery determination blazing in her honey eyes.

"If I win," she began, slightly breathy, "then I don't have to." She crossed her arms. "Right?"

The boxing captain quirked a smile. "EXTREMELY right."

Tsuna's eyes glinted, and maybe it was the glow of the setting sun, but Ryohei had thought they flashed orange at that moment. "To where?"

Ryohei's grin came back full force and he replied, "Nami-chu gates."

The petite girl nodded, and bent down. Ryohei watched in confusion as she took the bands off her ankles and slipped out of her shoes.

"Hey, your EXTREME feet are going to EXTREMELY hurt if you EXTREMELY run like that, you know!"

Tsuna scoffed lightly, stuffing the weights into the old sneakers and setting them to the side. She would pick them up on the way back, it would be okay to leave them here... she thinks.

"I'm aware," she responded, stretching out her legs and generally warming up before getting into position.

Ryohei frowned in a confused manner, and then shrugged. "Well, don't say I didn't EXTREMELY warn you," he said, copying her movements.

Tsuna smiled. "On your mark—"

"—get set—"

"_GO!_"

And they took off.

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33

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_"That... was... EXTREMEEEEE!"_

Tsuna chuckled as Ryohei heaved for oxygen, crinkling her nose at the amount of sweat showing on his clothes. She herself had been sweating, but barely—nowhere as much as him. Her breaths were only slightly labored, a huge contrast to his clearly audible pants.

Taking off the weight anklets and shoes had made a _huge_ difference, and her feet felt light despite the cuts and numerous sores (plus the newly blooming bruises) on the exposed soles.

She smiled, combing her bangs back to let the heat gathered near her forehead disperse into the air. She felt proud of the speed she had ran at, since it took the other minutes to catch up. By the time he arrived, her homeostasis had already been leveled out and was comfortably stable.

Ryohei was currently bent over at the waist, his bandage-wrapped hands on his knees for support. "You should... EXTREMELY... join... the boxing club," he wheezed out between gulps of air, "such... an EXTREME... waste... if you don't."

Tsuna shook her head, smiling as she did so. "Thank you for the consideration, but I'd rather not."

The juvenile boxer looked up at the shorter student, disbelief showing in his eyes. "But... why?"

"..._'why'_?" At his sluggish nod, she tilted her head in thought. "Well, you see... Hmm..."

As she was counting up her reasons to reject his quite forceful invitation, Ryohei's heartbeats slowly returned to its normal pace. For such a brightly energetic and notable _loud_ teen, his patience was actually quite large. He waited, controlling his breathing as he did so.

"I don't like sweating," Tsuna began, eyes closed in thought as she spoke. "I don't like tournaments. There are no females in the Boxing Club. It would be an insult to the other members to have a girl in their team. I'm not capable of waking up earlier than seven in the morning. I sleep as soon as nine—I've heard that afternoon practices for the Boxing Club lasts as long as ten at night—"

Before Ryohei could state any of the pros of being in his club, she cut him off and continued.

"—and my arm-strength is simply _pathetic_." She opened her eyes and turned to him with a completely assured look in her eyes, her voice a monotone deadpan. "Speed is pretty much all I have. Oh, and my stamina sucks as well. So, yeah. I can't join your club. Sorry." She actually seemed apologetic, but it was hard to tell with that nearly emotionless expression she constantly wore.

Ryohei could only stare at her disbelievingly with wide and furrowed eyes.

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R

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_Where. Was. She?_

A certain hitman stalked the streets of Namimori, his irritation growing at an alarming rate and scaring away anyone that was nearby. The air surrounding him was black and dreadful—it could be only described as a very, _very_ mild case of killing intent.

Oh, _yes_.

He was going to _kill_ that dear student of his.

Sometime, somehow, while he had been trying to come up with something intelligent to say to Giotto's sister, she had slipped away.

_And he hadn't noticed._

How many people were able to escape him? Him, the world's greatest hitman? The last time he counted, none. And now, it was up to one—who just happened to be his student. And a fourteen-year-old little _girl_, nonetheless.

Not only that, he knew almost nothing about her.

No, it wasn't like he didn't read the profile the Ninth had given him so many times that it was now booked on the edges and didn't listen to his former student ramble about his _'simply adorable imouto-chan'_ with the attention of a sharp hawk.

He knew everything about her that was her social life and family relations by blood.

But her personal life?

He knew almost _nothing_.

And his pride did not allow that.

Reborn was going to squeeze out every little personal thing about Tsuna if it was the last thing he was going to do.

He was so frustrated that he almost didn't notice the familiar objects just ahead and nearly passed them.

Shoes.

Reborn's eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly.

_Shoes? What about them? And why do they look so..._

He scowled.

_Tsuna._

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**A/N:**

fuck.

why the motherfucker did I even think of cutting this short?

ah, hell.

I am so goddamn sorry, guys.

I mean.

LOOK AT ALL THOSE REVIEWS.

I'M TERRIBLE.

**TERRIBLE.**

_/SOBSOBSOB_

no, but really.

if you have a bond to pick with me, then say it.

seriously.

I have no problem with flaws being pointed out.

no joke.

but caution: no more anonymous reviews enabled.

why?

because I need to reply, of course!

why?

because I love you guys.

kk?

lots of derp, Two-Faced Procrastinator.

_Seriously, guys. If you find even one missing letter or one too many, call out. Doesn't have to be a review, either. Mistakes grind my brain. Thanks a bunch! c:_


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